Political Geography

States and World Economy

Bell Work: January 12th, 2011

• *World Order• Define—Core, Periphery, and Semi-

Periphery • Give an example of each type of

state.

The Ideal: Nation-State• The politically organized area in which

nation and state occupy the same space.– The concept of Nation-state is more of an ideal

than a reality.

• The concept of nation-states is that states and governments desire to run a unified nation within their borders to create stability.

• Goal of creating nation states dates back to the French Revolution.

Multinational State – A state with more than one nation.

The sense of belonging to a nation rarely meshes perfectly with state borders.

Nearly every state in the world is a multinational state.

The Former Yugoslavia

Other Nations

Multistate Nation – When a nation stretches across border and across states

• Stateless Nation –a nation without a state

Nation and Territory

“The control and maintenance of a territory is as crucial as the control and maintenance of a national language, religion, or particular way of life. Indeed, a language, religion, or way of life is difficult to maintain without control over territory.”

- George White

European Colonialism and the Diffusion of the Nation-State Model

• Colonialism -a physical action in which one state takes over control of another, taking over the government and ruling the territory as its own.

Two Waves of European Colonialism:

1500 - 1825

1825 - 1975

Dominant Colonial Influences, 1550-1950

This map shows the dominant influence, as some places were colonized by more than one power in this time period.

Two Waves of DecolonizationFirst wave – focused on decolonization of the Americas

Second wave – focused on decolonization of Africa and Asia

Long Term Impacts of Colonialism

• 1. Europe Dominates– European colonialism gave rise to a

globalized economic order in which European states dominate. • Not all European states profited equally.

• 2. Russia, U.S. and Japan expand in land and influence.

• 3. Rise of global economic order.

Uneven Distribution of wealth

• The forces of colonialism gave rise of the global economic order.

• Wealth is unevenly distributed.– Examples: Haiti’s GNP is only $510 whereas

Norway’s is 42,222.

• Human geographers are more less concerned with stats then they are concerned with the way in which states interact in the global market.

Immanuel Wallerstein’s World-Systems Theory:

1. The world economy has one market and a global division of labor.

2. Although the world has multiple states, almost everything takes place within the context of the world economy.

3. The world economy has a three-tier structure.

Construction of the World Economy

Capitalism – people, corporations, and states produce goods and services and exchange them in the world market, with the goal of achieving profit.

Commodification – the process of placing a price on a good and then buying, selling, and trading the good.

Colonialism – brought the world into the world economy, setting up an interdependent global economy.

Three Tier StructureCore Processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology * Generate more wealth in the world economy

Semi-periphery Places where core and periphery processes are both occurring. Places that are exploited by the core but then exploit the periphery. * Serves as a buffer between core and periphery

Periphery Processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology * Generate less wealth in the world economy

Are economic and political power the same?

• No but they go hand and hand. Economic power can bring about political power.– Economic power=wealth– Political power=sovereignty

• Having wealth helps leaders gain political power.